Weapon Wednesday – Are Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems a Good Idea?

As the power of artificial intelligence grows, the likelihood of a future war filled with killer robots grows as well. Proponents suggest that lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWs) might cause less “collateral damage,” while critics warn that giving machines the power of life and death would be a terrible mistake.

But the government’s argument is that any regulation would be premature, hindering new developments which would protect civilians. The Pentagon’s current policy is that there should always be a ‘man in the loop’ controlling any lethal system, but the submission from Washington to the recent UN meeting argued otherwise:

“Weapons that do what commanders and operators intend can effectuate their intentions to conduct operations in compliance with the law of war and to minimize harm to civilians.”

So the argument is that autonomous weapons would make more selective strikes that faulty human judgements would have botched.

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About the Common Constitutionalist

Brent, aka The Common Constitutionalist, is a Constitutional Conservative, and advocates for first principles, founders original intent and enemy of progressives. He is former Navy, Martial Arts expert. As well as publisher of the Common Constitutionalist blog, he also is a contributing writer for Political Outcast, Godfather Politics, Minute Men News (Liberty Alliance), Freedom Outpost, the Daily Caller, Vision To America and Free Republic. He also writes an exclusive weekly column for World Net Daily (WND).